


Leo And Guang Hong Through The Years

by heartsdesire456



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Comedy, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Growing Up, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 21:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11998215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: A glimpse into 5 years in Leo and Guang Hong's friendship from its beginning and 1 year in which they finally become something more.





	Leo And Guang Hong Through The Years

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't figure out how to write a fic that addressed the way it's implied that Leo speaks Mandarin, which is THE CUTEST THING IF YOU THINK OF THE IMPLICATIONS, so I decided to go with this.
> 
> Seriously though. Leo had to have thought, 'my best friend is Chinese, so I should learn his language!" and THAT IS SO SWEEEEEETTTT! Omg I've wanted to write a fic about these two for so long. It's soooo cute <3 I hope you guys love them half as much as I do!

_13/15_

 

The first time Leo noticed Guang Hong was at a training camp in Canada that his coach had taken him to where a lot of skaters from around the world were all learning from some former Olympic and world champions. He was taking a water break from learning how to stop messing up his edges on his Lutz when, straight ahead of him, he watched one of the smallest boys out of the whole group execute a perfect triple axel. 

All the other skaters cheered and clapped as the boy who did the triple axel blushed and ducked into his training jacket a little as he skated back to the barrier where a woman – his coach, presumably – was waiting. 

“Whoa,” Leo breathed, and instantly he had to go talk to him. He skated over, forgetting his water bottle was still in his hand, and stopped just behind the boy. “Hey!” The kid turned around and Leo smiled brightly. “That was amazing! I can barely even land the triple axel sometimes!” he gushed. 

The boy tilted his head, smiling in a vaguely confused way, and his coach chuckled. “He does not speak English,” she explained, and Leo blushed, embarrassed by his lack of consideration. She seemed amused and spoke to the boy in his own language – Leo wasn’t quite sure which one, but he was getting better at identifying languages after a year in international competitions – before he turned back to Leo and smiled, a big, adorable smile, and started saying something even though Leo couldn’t understand it. The coach smiled in a soft way. “He says ‘thank you’. He says your Lutz is getting better, he has noticed.”

Leo grinned, looking at the boy even as he knew he was really speaking to his coach. “My name is Leo, what’s yours?” he asked, and the boy turned to his coach expectantly. She kindly translated for him, and he bounced some in his skates.

He sounded really excited as he spoke and his coach translated immediately. “This is Guang Hong. We are from China. This season will be his Junior debut, and he says he’s very excited to compete with you this year.”

Leo beamed. “Tell him I can’t wait, either.”

~

Leo and Guang Hong spent as much time as they could outside of training hanging out. There were plenty of kids in the dormitory who had video game setups, and since Playstation was something that didn’t require language comprehension, the Mario Cart battles got _epic_. Someone even set up a leaderboard in the boy dorm hallway to show who was ranked where. Leo and Guang Hong both played, but even when they couldn’t, they would sit together on somebody’s bed and – since Guang Hong’s coach wasn’t around to translate – they would try to talk via google translate on their phones. 

“Oh my God, this is hopeless,” Leo groaned as what Guang Hong said to him translated into English as, ‘fluff hair noodle good’, which made absolutely no sense no matter what he tried to guess it meant. He looked at Guang Hong and shrugged, trying to convey confusion as best as he could. Guang Hong adopted an adorably frustrated pout and tried it again.

“Coil bounce thread positive,” Guang Hong’s phone said, and he looked so hopeful Leo felt bad shaking his head with a shrug. Guang Hong pouted and fell over with a flop, groaning into the bed. Leo reached out and petted his head with a giggle and Guang Hong’s shoulders heaved as he sighed heavily. 

For the rest of the camp, Leo and Guang Hong set about trying to communicate when Guang Hong’s coach – or another Chinese skater who spoke English – wasn’t around, and it forced them to learn to communicate with gestures and noises and most of all their skating more than anything. When time came for them to all go home, Guang Hong took Leo’s phone, downloaded an app on it, and gave it back, pointing at a contact on there. Leo realized it was a messaging app and that the contact was Guang Hong’s messaging contact. He looked up and beamed, throwing his arms around his new friend for a hug before they had to part ways. 

He was so happy to have met such a cool skater that he could get along with him even though they couldn’t talk to each other without help. 

~

_14/16_

When Guang Hong messaged Leo, in their new code of sorts they had developed over the past year to communicate, that he would be coming to the training camp in Canada again, Leo begged his coach for them to go again. When she said yes, Leo nearly leapt with joy, because Leo had a secret. One he had been keeping from Guang Hong all along so that he could surprise him, and though he wasn’t quite ready to reveal his surprise, he knew he could get there within the next month and a half before the camp. 

Leo had spent the last year learning to speak Mandarin. 

He got tired of not being able to talk to Guang Hong properly, because he was so fun and a really good skater, and Leo wanted to be able to talk to him like he could anybody else at the training camp. He still couldn’t read it, so it wasn’t hard to not show that he could talk to Guang Hong on SNS, but he was excited to speak to him in person.

It was hard to explain to his family why he would spend so much time learning a language he would never need to speak to anybody but one other skater he knew, but Guang Hong was one of his best friends, which was even more special since they lived on opposite sides of the world, and he wanted to be able to talk to him properly. 

When Leo first spotted Guang Hong at the camp, Guang Hong squeaked and ran to hug him in the hallway, his bag whacking Leo in the leg, even though he couldn’t find it in him to care as he hugged his friend. When Guang Hong pulled back, Leo was surprised to see that he’d gotten even more of a height difference with Guang Hong over the past year. He wasn’t very tall, so being taller than Guang Hong than he had been was amusing. “Hi, Leo,” Guang Hong said, which was some of the very little English he had picked up through talking to Leo over time. 

Leo decided there was no time like the present to reveal his new skills. “I so happy you come! I have hope you might come this year, but I worry much!” Guang Hong gasped, his hands coming up to cover his mouth, and Leo blushed. “What?! I say wrong thing? Embarrass thing?”

“No!” Guang Hong replied, eyes shining. “When did you learn?!” he demanded, and Leo smiled proudly.

“I have learn all year! I want able to talk with you more. I am not ready but you come so I try get more practice. I make sense?” he asked, and Guang Hong bounced in place excitedly.

“You make enough sense to understand! But this is great! We can practice and you can get better now!” Guang Hong laughed, hugging Leo again. “You are the best best friend ever! You can help me with my English now since my coach is mad I haven’t learned English better yet.”

Leo nodded, looking down at Guang Hong excitedly. “Okay!”

For the entire three week training camp, Leo and Guang Hong practiced his Mandarin and he tried to help Guang Hong with his English some since he could now speak enough Mandarin to understand what he wanted to say. He even taught Guang Hong a few things in Spanish, which sounded _adorable_ in Guang Hong’s voice. He learned a lot in training, but he learned even more about Guang Hong and everything he learned made him happy that he decided to take the initiative and learn the language his friend spoke no matter how hard it had been. 

One night at the end of the camp, when Leo and Guang Hong had climbed out onto the roof beyond their balcony at the dorm, laying on the shingles to look up at the sky, Guang Hong grabbed Leo’s phone and typed something in before handing it back. “Here, I set it up for video chatting.” He smiled brightly at Leo. “Now that we can talk, we can do that,” he said, and Leo grinned as he grabbed his phone back.

“Cool! I do this first,” he said, slinging his arm around Guang Hong to take a selfie of the two of them. He sat up straight and set the photo as his background and then showed it to Guang Hong, who blushed adorably in a way that made his cute little freckles stand out. Guang Hong was the most adorable thing Leo had ever seen, and Leo’s little cousin Marta was _adorable_. 

“I look silly,” he said, reaching out, but Leo held his arm away.

“Uh-uh, you look nice. Very fluff hair, nice photograph.” Guang Hong rolled his eyes and Leo counted that as a win. 

Guang Hong sighed, looking up at the sky. “I will miss you when I go home, Leo. You are my best friend.”

Leo’s chest tightened and he leaned his shoulder against Guang Hong’s, looking at him instead of the sky. “You are my best friend, too.” Guang Hong smiled again and laid his head on Leo’s shoulder. Leo was already sad thinking about Guang Hong leaving again, but he was also very excited, because now they could talk every day if they wanted to. It was a very good feeling.

~

_16/18._

Because Leo had moved up to seniors last year, he didn’t get to see Guang Hong for the summer, which was less upsetting now that they were both fluent in each other’s languages, but that didn’t mean that finding out that Guang Hong’s coach had agreed to let him go to Detroit to spend the summer training with Coach Celestino – a personal friend of Leo’s coach – wasn’t crazy exciting news.

Leo got permission straight away to go spend _two whole months_ in Detroit training with Phichit and Yuuri so that he could spend his free time with Guang Hong. 

When he arrived and moved into the spare room in Phichit and Yuuri’s apartment – which had previously been a ‘the realtor said it was an office but we keep all our costumes and gear in piles here, sorry, find a corner to set up this camp cot?’ room – Guang Hong was already at the rink and he video chatted with Leo while Leo unpacked and Guang Hong did cardio on the treadmill in the gym. 

“Leo, we found some better pillows-“ Phichit stopped when he heard Leo’s phone talking. “Ooohhh, who are you talking with?” he asked, jumping onto Leo’s bed, leaning over his shoulder. “Oh, I know you! You were fourth in the Junior GP last season, right? From China?” he asked, and Guang Hong blushed adorably over the video stream.

“Y-Yes. I’m Guang Hong.”

Leo nudged Phichit off of him. “This is my best friend, Guang Hong,” he said, and Phichit cooed.

“Awwww, that’s so cute.” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait, are you at the rink?” he asked, and Guang Hong blushed but nodded. “Ooohh, you’re that junior skater training with Ciao Ciao! We haven’t ran into you yet, but that’s awesome.”

Guang Hong giggled bashfully and Leo’s heart melted. “You’re going to call me right when you get out of training, right? We can go out! See if we can find some crepes,” Leo said, and Guang Hong nodded eagerly.

“I can’t wait! I haven’t seen you in person in so long, I miss you, Leo.”

“I miss you, too,” he said leaning his head back against the wall. “Not for long, though.”

“Nope, not very long,” Guang Hong agreed.

And two hours later, Leo was standing at the doors to the rink, waiting for Guang Hong to come out. The minute he did, Guang Hong squealed and ran down the steps to where Leo was waiting to sweep him into a hug, spinning them both around with the force of the collision. “LEO!” Guang Hong laughed excitedly as they spun, his feet off the ground as Leo spun him around. 

“I missed you so much,” Leo groaned, finally putting Guang Hong down. When Guang Hong leaned back, hands still on Leo’s shoulders to balance himself, Leo was struck by a thought he’d never had before. 

Guang Hong looked _incredible_. 

Leo blinked a few times, taking in the way some of the babyness of Guang Hong’s face had gone – though obviously not all – and he was taller now. His cheeks were still full and round, but something about his face seemed far more grown up now. “Is your hair different?” he asked, and Guang Hong looked up at his own hair, going cross-eyed.

“Uh, I haven’t had a haircut in a while? Maybe that’s it?” He frowned. “Why, does it look bad?”

Leo shook his head, and he was honest when he answered. “No, it suits you. I was just surprised.”

When Guang Hong smiled and Leo’s belly got all wiggly, he realized that was a hell of an understatement.

~

Leo had a problem. 

The problem he had acquired involved Guang Hong, going swimming, and discovering that, for how small was, Guang Hong’s body had somehow evolved from ‘gangly little boy’ to having really defined abs and legs and basically being incredibly attractive. Phichit and Yuuri were both, obviously, older and more ‘manly’, but Guang Hong was a scrawny child the last time Leo saw him.

Now he was the only thing Leo could look at and it was really, really distracting. 

After that swimming trip, every time he hugged him, he was acutely aware of Guang Hong’s muscles under his shirt. When they skated in tight training clothes, Leo’s eyes kept straying to Guang Hong’s hips and thighs every time he flexed and jumped. It was _agony_ trying to not act like his best friend was confusingly attractive. Worse yet was that he had never thought another boy was cute, so he was very mixed on his feelings about the matter. It wasn’t that he was horrified in himself, but it was different than anything he ever expected. It was especially troubling that it was about his best friend.

It was like everything he had thought was adorable about Guang Hong before was suddenly _attractive_. His eyes were no longer adorable, they were _pretty_ , and his smile didn’t just make Leo go ‘aww’, it made his heart race and his fingertips get tingly. When they were walking around the city with Phichit and Yuuri, Guang Hong kept grabbing his hand and tugging him along and not letting go and it was enough to drive Leo crazy. He was just as close as ever, because they were best friends, but now Leo couldn’t stop noticing the shadows Guang Hong’s hair cast over his face and the sweet brush of his eyelashes on his freckled cheeks. 

(Leo had weird dreams about licking Guang Hong’s freckles, which wasn’t even sexy, just weird, and he was very, very disturbed by them.)

It was a little relieving to realize he wasn’t the only guy with a crush on another guy that he knew, because when Phichit came running into the living room one night while Leo and Yuuri were watching TV screaming at the top of his lungs. “OH MY GOD THE PREVIEW VIDEO FOR VICTOR’S NEW PROGRAM IS OUT!” 

Leo was confused about why that was such a big deal until Yuuri nearly choked on his soda and scrambled out of the way so that Phichit could flop down between them with his laptop. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” Yuuri gushed draping himself over Phichit’s shoulders as he sat on his knees, eyes glued to the screen. “Show me, show me, show me!”

Phichit hit play and Leo leaned over to watch the video of Victor Nikiforov someone shot with their phone as some music started and he began skating. “Yuuri’s got a giant crush on Victor,” Phichit faux-whispered to Leo, earning a splutter from Yuuri.

“Phichit-kun!” He swatted at him. “Shhhh, he’s about to start the step sequence.”

Phichit just grinned at Leo and winked. “He says it’s skater admiration, but he’s not like this about anybody else.” Leo could see what he meant. Yuuri’s eyes were wide as if he were watching this in person, not on a grainy, shitty video.

When the video ended, Yuuri sighed dramatically, still looking wondrous as he leaned his head on Phichit’s shoulder. “Wow,” he sighed, and Phichit laughed and patted his head. “This is the year, Phichit. I’m going to go to the final and skate against him. I know it.”

Leo’s eyes widened. “You really think you can get to the final this year?” he asked, and Yuuri nodded, biting his lip.

“My chances are really good, I think. My toe loop is perfect now and Celestino says the short we’ve choreographed for me will definitely be a personal best, for sure.” Yuuri looked almost giddy. “Phichit, what if I actually manage to be a _real_ competitor?”

“Bitch, you already are,” Phichit said, shoving him upright. “You are the best one at the rink.” He smirked. “The real question is whether you manage to catch Victor Nikiforov’s eye with that sweet bubble butt you’re getting from all the quad practice-“  
“PHICHIT!” Yuuri squawked, turning redder than Guang Hong turned when he blushed, and Leo snickered at the way he tried to run away but Phichit just smacked him on the ass and chased after him. It was more than a little bit relieving to not feel like the only one, at least. 

However, he was still the only one with a sudden crush on his best friend.

~

_17/19._

Standing on the podium with Guang Hong at Skate America for Guang Hong’s first competition in the senior field had been incredible, as had Guang Hong visiting his home and seeing the way his parents and siblings all loved him and accepted him like part of the family, but nothing was quite as incredible as being in China with Guang Hong. He arrived two weeks before the Cup of China to visit him at home in Harbin, where he lived with his mother, and Mrs. Ji was so kind to allow him to stay with them. Guang Hong’s home was small and they had to be very quiet when playing games to not disturb his mother, but Leo didn’t really care about where they were, as long as he was with Guang Hong. 

His feelings from last summer had only intensified in their time apart. Every time he looked over at Guang Hong, his stomach fluttered and his chest tightened and his hands ached to reach out and hold Guang Hong’s. Leo couldn’t explain what it was, but something about Guang Hong seemed to only grow more beautiful every day. 

He lost track of him when his coach was checking him in before the first day of practice, and he didn’t see him until later that night, when he sought out the nearest crepe vendor and found Guang Hong making very distracting noises while eating a steaming hot crepe. When he told him Phichit and Yuuri were hanging out with Victor, Guang Hong leapt at the chance to go join them. 

“It’s insane,” Leo mused as the headed on their way. “Last year we were all joking about Yuuri competing against Victor, and he _did_ , but now Victor is his coach.” 

Guang Hong sighed. “He’s so lucky.” He giggled suddenly. “My coach thinks they’re probably dating. What do you think?”

Leo’s insides jerked at the idea. “If they are, Yuuri literally is living his biggest fantasy,” he said and Guang Hong giggled. 

“Poor Yuuri. Even if they aren’t, being RIGHT THERE next to Victor Nikiforov all the time has to be bad for his blood pressure. He’s a bigger Victor fan than anybody and now he _lives with him_ ,” he stressed and Leo snickered.

When they got to the place Phichit texted them from, Leo and Guang Hong were blind-sided by Victor-Freaking-Nikiforov hanging all over Yuuri while _entirely naked_. Leo wasn’t sure who was redder before the situation was dealt with, Guang Hong or Yuuri. 

That night, at the hotel, Guang Hong and Leo had the covers pulled over their heads as they lay in Leo’s bed whispering back and forth (since Guang Hong technically wasn’t supposed to be staying with Leo anyways, but nobody had to know that), and the main topic of discussion was Victor Nikiforov. 

Guang Hong giggled softly. “His underwear were so tiny you could see his butt cheeks,” he said and Leo snorted, because while that was true, he was mostly distracted by how he was hanging all over Yuuri.

“I guess that answered whether they were dating,” Leo mused. “No way they aren’t with how Victor was all over Yuuri while naked.”

Guang Hong sighed dreamily. “Yuuri is so lucky. Victor’s really cute,” he said, blushing some as he hid his face. “Oh my God, I said that out loud.”

Leo was startled to feel a twinge of _jealousy_ at that. It was ridiculous. Victor was old and Guang Hong wasn’t his boyfriend anyway, but he still felt jealous. “You really think he’s cute?” Leo asked, scrunching his nose. “He’s cool, but like… he’s old.”

Guang Hong peeked from behind his hands, cheeks flaming. “Well, yeah, but he’s so tall! And his eyes are really pretty.” 

Leo pressed his lips together. “I didn’t know you liked boys anyway,” he muttered, and Guang Hong shrugged.

“I dunno. Maybe? I never really thought about it much.” His blush told Leo that was a lie. Guang Hong blushed all the time, but the varying shades always meant something different, and red ears was lying. “What about you? You never talk about girls or boys. You got a problem with me thinking boys are cute?” he asked, looking afraid of Leo’s answer.

Leo rolled his eyes, sighing. “Guang Hong, you know I am accepting of whatever. You’re my best friend.”

Guang Hong gave a relieved smile. “I knew I could trust you,” he said, shuffling forward to curl his arms around Leo, hugging him as he snuggled his head under Leo’s chin. “You’re my best friend, too, Leo,” he said, voice muffled by Leo’s chest as he settled into Leo’s arms. Leo curled his arms around Guang Hong to hug him back and wondered whether God hated him to put him in the situation of having the boy he liked snuggling in bed with him or really loved him to give him Guang Hong in his life at all. 

It was hard to not feel lucky when your best friend was the most perfect person in the world.

When they both did so poorly, their dreams of going to Spain together were dashed, but Leo promised he would spend as much time as possible with Guang Hong at Four Continents and Worlds, so they would see each other again very soon. 

~

_18/19._

At Worlds, Leo was pretty sure the world hated him. 

Guang Hong somehow got _even cuter_.

It also didn’t help that the hotel they were all staying at had a hot tub and, though it was freezing outside in Finland, everybody wanted in the hot tub. They all ran across the icy patio and leapt in, and since there were so many of their group of friends there, Guang Hong ended up sitting in Leo’s lap. “Seriously, are you sure I’m not squishing you?” Guang Hong asked, biting his lip in a way that was meant to convey worry but just looked far too sexual for Leo when they were both topless and soaking wet and Guang Hong was sitting in his lap. 

He was so glad he was old enough to not get weirdly timed erections anymore.

“If Katsudon’s fat ass can sit in Victor’s lap, Leo can hold your tiny butt,” Yuri Plisetsky said from where he sat on the edge of the hot tub with just his legs in the water and a parka around his shoulders. 

Victor scoffed. “Yuuri is very small, not heavy,” he defended, hugging his fiancé tighter. “Also, you’re smaller than Guang Hong-“

“Fuck you, I’ve grown since Christmas you giant freak!” he retorted.

“You are freakishly tall,” Phichit offered from where he sat pretty much forcing Victor to share Yuuri as he laid his head on Yuuri’s shoulder even though Yuuri sat in Victor’s lap. “Chris, too,” he added and Chris scoffed from his spot sitting all by himself on an entire bench. 

(Chris had discovered that if you got naked, nobody wanted to sit beside you.)

“You’re just adorably small, petit chou, even your name bears similarity,” Chris said with a (somewhat alarming) leer.

Phichit narrowed his eyes. “Did you just call me a little cabbage?” he asked, and Victor and Chris both laughed.

“No, no, it’s like a pet name,” Victor explained. “He’s talking about how ‘mon petit chou’ kind of sounds like your name. It’s like saying ‘honey’ or ‘sweetie’, even if literally it translates to small cabbage.”

Phichit frowned again. “Wait, are you flirting with me?!”

“Yes,” Chris said nonchalantly. “I flirt with everybody.”

Guang Hong giggled and looked at Leo, voice low. “It’s true, he flirted with my mom when she came to see me at Cup of China,” he murmured, and Leo snorted, hiding his laughter in Guang Hong’s shoulder.

“At least he didn’t flirt with you?” he suggested and Guang Hong blushed bright red at that thought. 

Plisetsky chose to ruin the moment. “Why do you speak Chinese?” he asked, sounding more like a demand than anything.

Leo rolled his eyes. It wasn’t a new question at all. Anytime someone found out he spoke Mandarin they asked why. “Why don’t you?” he countered, earning a glare from Yurio and laughter from some of the others. 

Phichit smirked, which was alarming, and then said, “Because when he met Guang Hong he wanted to be able to talk to him,” in a teasing tone.

There were several ‘awwww’s, and Leo refused to blush. “Well he didn’t speak English, so I had to learn his language if we were going to be friends.” 

“Yeah, I only learned English because Leo could help me practice,” Guang Hong said brightly, clearly (and thankfully) missing what all teasing was going on in the subtext of the conversation. “He surprised me, too! We had to try and communicate with translator on our phones that first summer, then the next summer when I got there to visit him, he knew my language!”

“Awwwwww,” Victor cooed. “That’s so sweet.” He snuggled into Yuuri’s neck. “My fiancé is learning Russian for me, too,” he said, and Leo _did_ blush at that implication. 

Phichit, thankfully, distracted by snorting. “Oh my God, you didn’t already tell him?” he asked Yuuri, who turned red and started shaking his head in tiny jerks, trying to shut Phichit up, but Phichit pushed on. “Yuuri studied Russian in college because-“ Phichit adopted a dreamy expression clearly meant to be Yuuri, “Victor Nikiforov is Russian!”

“PHICHIT-KUN!” Yuuri whined, hands coming up to cover his face. 

Leo snorted. “I remember that! When I stayed with you guys that summer, he had all those Russian books everywhere! I didn’t even make the connection.”

Yurio scrunched his nose. “Jesus Christ, it was weird enough you got a poodle and named it Victor-“

“Oh my God, I hate you, too,” Yuuri moaned.

Chris chuckled. “Does he at least know about all the posters in your room in Detroit?” he asked, and Yuuri wailed.

“Okay, that’s it, goodbye,” Yuuri sighed before shoving Phichit out of the way and sliding off Victor’s lap and under the water to ‘drown’ himself.

“Noooo,” Victor whined, tugging him back up into his lap. “Stop teasing my Yuuri,” he chastised, hugging him close.

“The important question here,” Yurio said, frowning, “is how the hell Christophe knows about what posters were in Yuuri’s bedroom.”

Yuuri went pale and Chris _blushed_ , and Victor suddenly turned to his friend with suspicion in his eyes. “Yes, Christophe... why do you know what posters were in my fiancé’s bedroom?” 

“Oh wow, look at the time, need my beauty sleep!” Chris said quickly, and then stood up – making them all yell and cover their eyes at his nakedness – and climbed out of the hot tub and running before he even had his bathrobe fully tied.

“I’M GOING TO CALL MY SISTER GOODNIGHT!” Yuuri yelled as he, too, flew out of the hot tub, running soaking wet without a towel back into the hotel.

Leo was thankful for the distraction since Guang Hong was still very topless and very much in his lap, which was a terrible place for Leo to have the boy of his dreams sitting if there was no better distraction. However, even with an empty bench open now, Guang Hong didn’t seem inclined to get off his lap at all. 

~

_18/20._

Leo was very pleased to get invited to Yuuri’s wedding and approved in bringing Guang Hong as his date, but he had never expected that it would be a serious mistake like it ended up being, all because of one little thing.

Guang Hong had gotten a nice suit made since he last saw him dressed up for a banquet, and _holy shit_ he looked incredible. 

Leo couldn’t focus on anything. The whole ceremony left no memory in his brain, because all he could pay attention to the entire time was Guang Hong sitting beside him, squeezing his hand as he sniffled at how beautiful it was. Leo didn’t even know if it really was or if Guang Hong was just emotionally, because _all_ he could do was stare at how beautiful he looked with his hair combed back and his suit hugging his shoulders perfectly. 

Guang Hong had grown into a very handsome young man and Leo found himself wondering how it was possible his pretty friend could have gotten even more beautiful. It was like every time he saw him in person, he somehow looked better than before. Leo was a mess at the wedding because Guang Hong was perfect and Leo was _weak_. He wanted to hold him and whisper in his ear and tell him every single thought that crossed his mind about how amazing he looked. He wanted to count every freckle on body and map them with his lips, starting with the ones that were scattered across the bridge of his nose. Leo’s chest ached with desire to know what it was like to say the words, ‘I love you’ to his best friend, and it ached even more with the knowledge that he couldn’t do that, because wanting Guang Hong and not being able to have him hurt, but the idea of losing him altogether was unimaginable. He would rather die than lose Guang Hong in his life. 

“What’s up with you?” Leo looked to the side as Phichit came up and offered him a glass of champagne at the reception. Leo looked back to where the grooms were dancing together, both of them giggling and blissful as they swirled around the dance floor to the upbeat music.

“Hey, Phichit,” he said, taking the champagne. He sipped it and his eyes strayed to where Guang Hong was chatting with Yurio, who didn’t seem to understand how lucky he was to have Guang Hong’s attention on him. 

Phichit snorted. “Boy, you’ve got it bad,” he said, and Leo blushed and looked down. “Oh, lover boy is looking your way,” he said, and Leo looked up again, smiling when he saw Guang Hong was smiling his way. He gave Leo a little grin before Yurio said something to catch his attention again. Phichit nudged him. “Why do you look so depressed? My best friend just had the most romantic wedding ever, cheer up, asshole!”

Leo smiled. “Sorry, sorry. I’m really happy for Yuuri, I swear.”

“You’re just jealous,” Phichit surmised and Leo groaned, dropping his head back. “Leo, Babe, you’ve been in love with Guang Hong as long as I’ve known you.”

“I know,” Leo sighed. “That’s the problem. Being in love with your best friend is horrible.”

Phichit groaned. “Oh my God, you’re so stupid.” He shoved him towards Guang Hong. “GUANG HONG, LEO WANTS TO DANCE!” he shouted, and Leo stared wide eyed at Guang Hong, who blushed but took the incentive to excuse himself and come over to Leo. 

Guang Hong smiled and slid his arms around Leo’s shoulders as the song changed to a slow one. “About time,” he said, tugging Leo to the dance floor. He giggled as he tightened his grip around Leo’s shoulders. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t ask me to dance at all.”

Leo shrugged. “I didn’t know you wanted me to,” he confessed and Guang Hong rolled his eyes.

“You know, for such a smart guy, you’re pretty stupid sometimes.” Leo pouted and Guang Hong gave an apologetic pout. “I just mean that you’re not good on picking up cues.” Leo tilted his head in confusion and Guang Hong groaned. “Oh my God, okay, I’m going to make it simple for you.”

In a million years, Leo would’ve never expected that what Guang Hong would do after those words was what he actually did: he kissed him. 

It was just a kinda smoosh of his lips on Leo’s, but Leo was pretty sure in that three seconds, he died and went to heaven. When Guang Hong dropped back on his heels he was _bright red_ but looking at Leo with hopeful eyes. “What- that- I-“

Guang Hong ducked his head shyly. “I-I got tired of waiting,” he murmured. “Oh my God, I just did that, what did I do, oh my God-“

“It’s okay,” Leo comforted quickly, hugging him. Guang Hong hid his face in Leo’s shoulder, hands fisting in his jacket. “Don’t freak out, it’s okay, I- I liked it.”

“Really?” Guang Hong asked in a tiny voice, and Leo’s heart melted.

“Really.” He rubbed his back soothingly. “I- um- I-“

Guang Hong interrupted. “I’ve pretty much liked you since I first met you but you became my best friend so I was scared but the last few years I think you like me, too, and Phichit said you do, and- and that I should go for it, and I don’t even know how to kiss, I’ve never did it, so it probably sucked, sorry, but I just- I just-“ He deflated some and pulled back to look at Leo with big, sad brown eyes. “You’re my best friend. I don’t want to mess it up. But- but I love you, Leo.” He pouted some. “I have for a long time.”

Leo’s insides glowed with warmth and he smiled slowly, growing bigger by the second. “I love you, too,” he said, and Guang Hong’s eyes grew cautiously hopeful. Leo leaned their foreheads together, breath stuttering. “I’ve loved you for so long. I- I’ve never kissed anybody either, because anybody that liked me, I just thought, ‘well Guang Hong is better’, so I never liked them back. I don’t know how long I’ve loved you, b-but I do. I really do. I just didn’t know if you would like me back so I was too scared to say anything and mess up our friendship, cause you’re the most important person in my life-“

“I’m gonna try that kiss thing again,” Guang Hong interrupted, and Leo was a little more ready to react this time when Guang Hong’s lips touched his.


End file.
